Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
Arenel 0-1 Telone
A solitary goal from Leo Hofisi, was all the visitors, TelOne needed to overcome the hosts Arenel, in an otherwise balanced encounter played at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
It was just a preparatory game but, one thing is for certain, the two knocked the ball on the ground way too well for teams coming from the lower divisions.
Whether that will be enough to compete in the top flight league, only time will tell. For both teams, this was a perfect preparation for the start of the new season next weekend.
Arenel coach,Farai Tawechera, was pleased with the way his charges played and believes that there are a few issues that need to be ironed out.
He said they are ready for Premiership action and that they have what it takes to compete against the best teams , as they open their league encounter against the defending champions, Ngezi Platinum Stars.
“From what I saw today I think we are there, we can play against any team. This was our first real test and I saw a lot of positives from my boys, of course there are some negatives here and they like transition from defence to attack,but we will address it in the next three to four days but in terms of performance I was happy, the boys did well, they played well, played on the floor with a lot of movement.
Yes, as a coach you can never be satisfied to say I’m there but it’s work in progress. Like any other team which has come into the league, we also hope to stay afloat in the top flight, survive relegation and stay up,” said Tawachera.
On the Ngezi season opening game he said: “Yes it’s tough on paper, they are the defending champions but football is not played like that, we are going to play 11 versus 11 so the better team of the day will win the game.”
His opposite number on the TelOne bench, Tendai Chikuni, was also pleased with the way they played, saying that they are also ready for the Premiership.
“We are still learning, some of the players are still young. As much as we won both games, friendlies are not just about that.
We need to be able to manage the game, the league is starting next week, so we are trying a lot of combinations to see how things go. I can say that we are ready for the league.
We never stop preparing. Even in the league, after each game we will be preparing for the next game,” he said.
Gweru based TelOne are likely to use Bata Stadium as their home ground when the season kicks off next weekend,with the hope of having Ascot Stadium ready for the second half of the season.
Meanwhile, Arenel also took the opportunity to unveil their season kits they acquired through a partnership with Harare-based Genesis Sporting to be their official kit sponsor
The free kit package is made up of the following items (a) up to 32 sets of football uniforms (home), (b) up to 32 sets of football uniforms (away) (c) up to eight coaching uniforms (d) two sponsor branded banners (e) 20 percent discount on all sportswear orders from Genesis Sporting for the duration of the agreement.
Genesis Sporting will recover its costs through sales of replicas to fans. Additionally, more items will be added to the package if certain sales targets are met.
Upon reaching a target of selling 200 replicas, the club will get 32 tracksuits, the same number of travelling shirts and toiletry bags will be added.–@innocentskizoe
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter